14 April 2020
Manager,
Manager, Broadcasting Standards Authority,
Dear Sir/Madam,
Formal Complaint
I wish to lay a formal complaint against the news item of Charlie Dreaver, Political Reporter, “Select Committee delivers report on abortion Bill.” The item was included in Checkpoint on Friday,14 February, 2020.
To assist you I have enclosed copies of my letter of complaint to Radio NZ of 23 February and their response of 7th April 2020.
Mr Bignall states that broadcasting standards require that listeners be made aware of significant points of view over the period of current interest on controversial topics.
I totally support this requirement, however I seriously question the broadcaster’s neutrality and professionalism in seeking comment from Terry Bellamak the President of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, on the grounds that ALRANZ is not a significant organisation and that Terry Bellamak does not have a significant point of view that warrants Radio NZ providing her with inordinate coverage.
Radio NZ considers the views of Terry Bellamak significant. In the interest of truth I wish to question that assumption. Ms Bellamak appears to be confused about pro-creation. In her submission to the Select Committee she sought to replace the noun woman from the Abortion Legislation Bill and replace it with “pregnant persons” as it was her contention that men also had uteruses.
It should be known that Ms Bellamak who comes from Arizona, is now a NZ citizen and was elected President of ALRANZ in 2015, having taken over from Dr Morgan Healey, an Irish woman who had been working in the United States.
Terry was previously a senior executive with Goldman Sachs and now works full time for ALRANZ. Our research of the constitution of ALRANZ an incorporated society and its annual financial accounts reveals that Terry is not being paid by ALRANZ. This raises an interesting and important question. Why would a highly paid executive leave the United States to become the unpaid President of ALRANZ? Right to Life believes that Terry is being funded by the mega wealthy pro- abortion movement in the United States.
The inordinate coverage given to ALRANZ by the media, including Radio NZ would suggest that ALRANZ represents a mass movement. This is an illusion as a perusal of the total subscriptions received, shown on the annual accounts of ALRANZ, suggest that it has a national membership of approximately 45 paid up members; hardly a mass movement.
A reading of the constitution of ALRANZ reveals that the quorum for the AGM is six. ALRANZ claims to be a voice for women in NZ. Right to Life vigorously rejects this claim and we believe ALRANZ constitutes a clear threat to the health of women and to the lives of our unborn children. If it is a voice for New Zealand women why can they not find a woman born in New Zealand to be its President and spokesperson?
ALRANZ denies the humanity of the unborn child and believes that the child does not become a human being until it is born. It believes that the killing of a child in the womb is a human right. As Terry has said, in abortion there is no baby here only a fetus. ALRANZ supported the abortion law being changed to allow abortion up to birth for any reason and in fact was concerned that the Abortion Legislation bill did not go far enough. As Terry said, “any reason is a good reason for an abortion”.
Why is Terry promoting the war on women? Terry believes that all persons have the right to bodily autonomy, unless you are an unborn child that is. She also believes contrary to medical science that an unborn child that is being killed does not feel pain in an abortion until it is 29 to 30 weeks gestation, which is scientifically, nonsense.
The community should be aware that ALRANZ has been contemptuous of the rule of law. ALRANZ on its website is encouraging women to break the law and illegally smuggle into NZ dangerous drugs used for medical abortions. A warning was even given by Dr Pippa Mckay, an abortionist, that women were putting their lives at great risk and that women would ultimately die from this illegal use of dangerous drugs.
It is ironical that ALRANZ claims to seek law reform, yet is prepared to encourage women to break the criminal law of New Zealand. It is time that the media recognised that ALRANZ is an anti-feminist organisation that does not represent New Zealand women.
Why would Radio NZ consider the views of Terry Bellamak and ALRANZ significant when:-
Its membership indicates that they have very little support in the community.
They advocate breaking the law to smuggle dangerous drugs across the border.
They promote the killing of the unborn child as a human right up to birth for any reason.
They deny that the unborn child is a human being and a member of the human family endowed with human rights.
They deny the biological fact that only women have a uterus.
A review of Radio NZ items relating to abortion since 2018 indicates a distinct bias towards ALRANZ and against pro-life organisations. The review reveals that there have been 23 news items on abortion. Extensive comment from ALRANZ was included in 7 items and there were 4 other substantial items that featured ALRANZ alone. There were also two items that included comment from the Family Planning Association.
In defence of life there were two items that featured comment from Voice for Life and Family First and one from Family Life International, there were no items that included comment from Right to Life in spite of the fact that our Society issues weekly media releases which include Radio NZ.
Yours sincerely
Ken Orr
Secretary,
Right to Life
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